Human wolves are shapeshifters with two forms: one bipedal, the other lupine. Many of them choose to pass for human, but the influence of the wolf can not be completely surpressed. During mating season, some seek each other out while others try to maintain exclusively human relationships. One of these is a man who would ignore his fellow shapeshifters entirely, given the choice, but his human lover has other ideas.

They've come to call themselves human wolves: shapeshifters with two forms, one bipedal and the other lupine. Many are magical. Some are natural born. Most have at least a passing familiarity with the local pack and "community center," which provides structure for these beings outside of normal human mores.

For those who come to the transformation later in life, pack hierarchy isn't the only thing they have to learn. The biological necessities of a wolf form can be disconcerting to humans. But for a human with an alien parent and friends who consider turning into a wolf more of a physical idiosyncrasy than a life-changing proposition, mating season doesn't sound like an insurmountable challenge. His lover is human, not in heat, and very understanding.

The rest of the pack is not. They're willing to let him go his own way as long as his way doesn't interfere with theirs. When time cops start questioning the human wolves about another of his less than human friends, pack life gets personal fast.